Where to Invest $10,000 in May 2024

These three stocks all offer their own strong reasons to consider an investment once more — especially if you’re making a solid investment base.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

Author Bio Amy became interested in investing in 2018 after having her first daughter. After receiving a masters degree in journalism from Western University, she became frustrated that the finance industry remained a confusing place for Canadians like her: new parents, millennials, and other young people who needed to understand their finances. Now, Amy focuses on tech companies and renewable energy for growth opportunities, coupling that with long-term investing strategies and equities. She also provides investors with a daily newsletter, Canada Stock Digest, for daily market updates. Her work can also be found at Canada's National Observer, where she writes on the business side of climate action. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, Amy wrote for major news organizations including HuffPost, CTVNews.ca, and CBC. When she’s not researching investing strategies, Amy’s time is pretty much monopolized by her two wild daughters, but in what little spare time she has she loves to do yoga, go on walks with her dog, and travel with her husband. Social Media Follow Amy on LinkedIn and Canada Stock Digest. Favorite Investment Quote “October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” – Mark Twain

Published May 17, 2024 4:10 pm EDT

Canadian investors are now halfway through May. And not only that, we’re now about halfway through another round of earnings. And there have been countless companies that have been producing strong earnings reports. However, if you have $10,000 to invest in May, there are three I would focus on first and foremost, each for their own special reason.

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Royal Bank

First off, there’s Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY). Granted, the largest of the Big Six banks by market cap has yet to come out with earnings. However, it’s likely to continue its progress to providing stability through provisions for credit losses (PCL) as well as growing its revenue.

That revenue in particular comes from two places. First, there’s its stable wealth and commercial management arm, which has long been a highly lucrative part of the business. However, it also comes from its new acquisition of HSBC Canada.

Now that the acquisition is on board for the quarter, the company should see a large rise in revenue from new clients — clients that are, in many cases, high-income newcomers to Canada. So, with shares up 12% in the last year and rising, and a 3.85% divided yield, it’s looking like a strong purchase in May.

Lightspeed

Then there’s a company for growth. And in a recent interview with Motley Fool, now permanent chief executive officer Dax Dasilva has confirmed that’s exactly where the company is focused.

Lightspeed Commerce (TSX: LSPD) stock came out with its fourth-quarter earnings and full-year 2024 results that climbed past estimates. However, the company is now shifting away from its focus on payments penetration, now that a solid 32% of its revenue comes from this operation. Now, it’s focusing back on subscription growth, which shareholders have been begging for.

So, after shares rose 15% on the back of strong earnings and the promise of more growth, it finally looks like a good time to get back in Lightspeed stock, especially as we head towards some historically strong quarters, which we’ve seen usually happens in the summer months. And while shares still remain at around $20 per share, far lower than all-time or even 52-week highs.

XAW ETF

Finally, if you’re looking for a simple, core investment with that $10,000, I would consider an exchange-traded fund (ETF). In particular, iShares Core MSCI All Country World ex Canada Index ETF (TSX: XAW) is an excellent choice.

That’s because if you’re like most Canadians, you likely invest a lot in Canadian companies. There’s nothing wrong with that, except if you’re missing out on global diversification. Which is why XAW ETF is the perfect option.

XAW ETF holds all market caps of companies across the world. You get exposure to developed countries as well as emerging markets. Altogether, you can look forward to growth as well as the dividends provided by these companies.

Right now, shares are up 13% year to date already and about 24% in the last year as of writing. Meanwhile, it offers a 1.58% dividend yield. So, it’s definitely another of the companies to consider in May.